UT students enrolled in Performance Robots will collaborate with Metz-Sánchez Elementary Schools\ to design robots that can be controlled remotely via the internet. Using a STEAM-centered lesson plan developed with the teacher, the students will create initial drawings and stories. UT Austin students will bring these robot designs to life in consultation and collaboration with their young design partners.  Controllability and expressiveness to tell these Robots' stories will guide all automation and fabrication decisions of our UT student team. The Robots will make their debut performance in December, with their elementary school designers controlling them remotely via the web.

This project unleashes creativity in the UT students as well as young learners. In this especially challenging time, we want to explore how simultaneously investing and elevating children and UT students' creativity might support the mental well-being of all ages and inspire all those who watch the collaborative performance. Through this virtual collaboration, building hands-on, IoT (internet of things) connected projects, our multi-generational community of students will practice artistic expression, design, and storytelling. In these uncharted times, these little robots remind us of the power of collaboration and play, raising the spirits of us all.

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